Welcome to Rathkill Island
Mandatory for new arrivals:
Subscribe to the community bulletins. With classified ads, birth and death notices, plus talisman and amulet recipes.
Looking for a way to protect yourself from the unknowable, hungry landscape this new moon? We have talismans for that.
Do not eat the Cormorant Weed. Explore our wonderfully safe flora and fauna.
Did you know?
NAME: While it is bastardised as Rathkill island in the English language, Inis na Péiste is the true name of this rocky promontory.
It translates to "Island of the Serpent/Beast." (pronounced inn-ish nuh paysh-tuh). How evocative!
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? Take a look at the FAQ or reach out anytime to the editor of our local newsletter: me, Orion Slade.
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Come and find out.
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The Salty Skeleton: the oldest pub on the island: right by the harbour with lovely sea views
The Malingerer: the tiniest pub on the island: further inland, near the black fort. Fabulous food.
For coffee visit the Angler’s Rest. They have flat whites and tales to tell.
The library is always open and waiting for you. Say hello to Poppet, the cat.
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THE BLACK FORT is probably the main attraction. It’s a prehistoric fort perched on a 100-metre-high cliff overlooking the ocean.
The fort consists of a series of concentric walls and chambers, with the outermost wall being 4 metres thick and 6 metres high in some places.
Archaeological excavations suggest that it was occupied from around 1100 BC to AD 1000, with evidence of habitation dating back to the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
The name "Dún Dúchathair" translates to "black fort" in Irish, referring to the strangely dark and reflective marble-like rock that forms the walls and cliffs of the site.
THE ISLAND’S EYE
There is also THE ISLAND’S EYE; Located over the ancient temple of old gods we don’t remember, it is a colossal, circular geological dome shaped like a beehive with a perfectly formed round hole in the ceiling.
THE CASCADE
The cliff path above the western lighthouse gives you unparalleled access to THE CASCADE: an area where water erosion has smoothed the rock edges into flowing, wave-like shapes.
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You get the clearest views from three main spots:
The cliff path above the western lighthouse is a great spot. Watch out for the sheer drop to the rocks below.
The old ferry jetty. We abandoned it for a reason but it’s a great place to take photos from before you run away.
The island’s eye. If you climb this huge circular geological dome shaped like a beehive you might die. But once they recover your photos from your oddly preserved corpse, everyone would say they’re spectacular.
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You have three options:
Ella’s.
The only official guest house, this A-frame house is convivial and inviting.
Mark’s Mam.
Facing the sea, there’s a single room available in this authentic cottage.
Camping.
Good luck with that.
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Approximately 180 people live year-round on the island. The population fluctuates slightly depending on the source and season, but community consensus places the active resident count between 175 and 200 people.
Warnings and reminders for residents and guests
REMINDER: Council reminds all residents: do not enter the fog on foot. Do not send your children into the fog to fetch things. Do not call out names of loved ones who have gone into the fog, as this is known to attract additional fog.
REMINDER: Do not feed the cormorants. We know you know this. We are saying it again because someone has been feeding the cormorants. The cormorants are now larger than they were in spring.
REMINDER: There is a new ferry boat. Do not go near the new ferry boat. Do not look at the captain of the new ferry boat. Do not step foot on the new ferry boat. Pretend the boat does not exist.
Visitor Reviews
“I booked what was advertised as a pleasant three-hour afternoon visit—four hours at the absolute most. Honesty. Ridiculous. I finally got back to Galway & my phone was claiming it was last Thursday.
Frankly, I find that completely unacceptable. If your attraction is going to interfere with guests’ personal timelines, that should be made VERY CLEAR at the point of booking.
The paths are also terribly organised. They seem to move around whenever you look away, meaning it was IMPOSSIBLE to navigate properly. I was simply trying to return to the harbour and somehow ended up at THE SAME CHURCH RUIN on three separate occasions.
Clearly there is insufficient signage, or perhaps the landscape needs to be secured in one place. Someone needs to do something about this!!!
To make matters worse, I could hear someone walking directly behind me for most of the visit. Every time I stopped, they stopped; every time I turned around, there was no one there. Very unsettling, and no member of staff was available to explain why I appeared to be being followed by an invisible person.
That said, the food was genuinely excellent. Five stars for the food alone. The rest of that awful place needs SERIOUS ATTENTION.”
— Karen M.
It was a bit much TBH. ⭐⭐⭐
“Okayyy this cottage was actually so cute! I left my little review in the guestbook and then… why did every other entry look exactly like my handwriting? Which is obviously insane, right?
It was fully giving major sus vibes. Loved the spooky commitment but ngl they did way too much because sleeping was not happening.
The owner was zero help when I mentioned it either. Some of the entries were describing stuff I literally hadn’t done yet—this fight with my dad that I ended up having, rooms in the house I’d never even been in. Like, maybe I only had that fight because I read it in the guestbook first? That’s a thing, surely? Right?
Then the final entry was in my handwriting too, except shakier. It was the worst one. It just said: ‘Don’t stay the night.’ We laughed. Said it was probably nothing. Locked up. Went to bed. Seriously tho.
— Denise C.”
WTF was that?? ⭐
“I came here to urbex but when I uploaded the photos at home it’s like …I mean, at first it looked fine but…
This is nuts, but there were people. Really interesting light on the island, it really looked like people. They were right there in the middle of the frame looking right at me and like. In every single shot. Really sent a chill down my spine.
It’s so realistic looking, I’d definitely tell my friends to come over here.
Different distances, same posture. Arms down, head slightly tilted. It was hard really to see any details because the faces were blurred so badly that it looked like they’d been removed.
Really warm welcome tho, lovely people, went out of their way.”
— Christine
Utterly unacceptable, minus 5 stars
LATEST WEBSITE ADDITIONS
Fascinating extracts from Siobhán Gunny's marvellous new book, Herbarium Arcanum. Yes, really, she's publishing yet another one but at least this one is about plants this time.
Please email me, Orion Slade, to express interest in pre-ordering. orionsladenews@gmail.com
The islanders kindly share these extremely helpful recipes for charms, amulets and talismans. You can find them below, all nicely ordered and laid out with care. I do everything with care.
This list, the islanders say, is a solid base for everyday protection.
Not that you need protection from the fog, the night sky or the island itself.
Of course not, that would be silly.